The catalytic decomposition of N2O over Fe/ZSM-5 was studied at pressures up to 1 atm. As the partial pressure of N2O in the feed to a packed bed reactor was varied, the catalytic activity was observed to abruptly increase at inlet partial pressures above some critical value. This abrupt increase in activity was not due to the reaction exotherm. but is believed to be a kinetic phenomenon. In similar experiments where the temperature was varied the activity did not jump to a higher level. The dual levels of activity were observed for several Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts that spanned a range of SiO2/Al2O3 ratios from 30 to 280. irrespective of whether the iron was introduced into the zeolite by ion exchange or by sublimation of iron chloride. When the inlet partial pressure of N2O to the packed bed reactor was sufficiently high to cause the catalyst to operate in the high activity regime, the high activity state was sustained throughout the catalyst bed, even though the N2O partial pressure in the latter part of the bed had dropped below the critical level. Microkinetic modeling shows that this kind of behavior is possible in an isothermal catalytic system. The microkinetic model includes two redox cycles. In one cycle the cation oxidation state alternates between Fe2+ and Fe3+. In the second, more active redox cycle there is alternation between a surface nitrite and nitrate. The former redox cycle predominates at low partial pressures and the latter at high N2O partial pressures.